Development Through the Lifespan

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Laura Berk’s Development Through the Lifespan is relied upon in classrooms worldwide for its clear, engaging writing style, exceptional multicultural and cross-cultural focus, cutting-edge consideration of the interrelationships between heredity and environment, rich examples, and long-standing commitment to presenting the most up-to-date scholarship. This new edition continues to offer students research-based practical applications that they can relate to their personal and professional lives.

Laura Berk, renowned professor and researcher, has revised the text with new pedagogy, a heightened emphasis on the interplay between heredity and environment, and an enhanced focus on many social policy issues, while emphasizing the lifespan perspective throughout. The latest theories and findings in the field are made accessible to students in a manageable and relevant way. Berk’s signature storytelling style invites students to actively learn beside the text’s “characters.” Students are provided with an especially clear and coherent understanding of the sequence and underlying processes of human development, emphasizing the interrelatedness of all domains—physical, cognitive, emotional, social—throughout the text narrative and in special features.

Berk also helps students connect their learning to their personal and professional areas of interest. Her voice comes through when speaking directly about issues students will face in their future pursuits as parents, educators, health care providers, social workers, and researchers. As members of a global and diverse human community, students are called to intelligently approach the responsibility of understanding and responding to the needs and concerns of both young and old.

While carefully considering the complexities of human development, Berk presents classic and emerging theories in an especially clear, engaging writing style, with a multitude of research-based, real-world, cross-cultural, and multicultural examples. Strengthening the connections among developmental domains and of theory and research with applications, this edition's extensive revision brings forth the most recent scholarship, representing the changing field of human development.

NOTE: This is the standalone book, if you want the book/access code package order the ISBN below.

Laura E. Berk is a distinguished professor of psychology at Illinois State University, where she has taught human development to both undergraduate and graduate students for more than three decades. She received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of California, Berkeley, and her master’s and doctoral degrees in child development and educational psychology from the University of Chicago. She has been a visiting scholar at Cornell University, UCLA, Stanford University, and the University of South Australia.

Berk has published widely on the effects of school environments on children’s development, the development of private speech, and the role of make-believe play in development. Her research has been funded by the U.S. Office of Education and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. It has appeared in many prominent journals, including Child Development, Developmental Psychology, Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, Development and Psychopathology, and Early Childhood Research Quarterly. Her empirical studies have attracted the attention of the general public, leading to contributions to Psychology Today and Scientific American. She has also been featured on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition and in Parents Magazine, Wondertime, and Reader’s Digest.

Berk has served as a research editor for Young Children and a consulting editor for Early Childhood Research Quarterly. Currently, she is an associate editor for the Journal of Cognitive Education and Psychology. She is a frequent contributor to edited volumes on early childhood development, having recently authored chapters on the importance of parenting, on make-believe play and self-regulation, and on the kindergarten child. She has also written the article on social development for The Child: An Encyclopedic Companion; the article on Vygotsky for the Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science; and the chapter on storytelling as a teaching strategy for Voices of Experience: Memorable Talks from the National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology (Association for Psychological Science). She is the coauthor of the forthcoming chapter on make-believe play and self-regulation in the Sage Handbook of Play in Early Childhood.

Berk’s books include Private Speech: From Social Interaction to Self-Regulation; Scaffolding Children’s Learning: Vygotsky and Early Childhood Education; Landscapes of Development: An Anthology of Readings; and A Mandate for Playful Learning in Preschool: Presenting the Evidence. In addition to Exploring Lifespan Development, she is author of the best-selling texts Child Development and Infants, Children, and Adolescents, and Development Through the Lifespan published by Pearson. Her book for parents and teachers is Awakening Children’s Minds: How Parents and Teachers Can Make a Difference.

Berk is active in work for children’s causes. In addition to service in her home community, she is a member of the national board of directors and chair of the Chicago advisory board of Jumpstart, a nonprofit organization that provides intensive literacy intervention to thousands of low-income preschoolers across the United States, using college and university students as interveners. Berk is a fellow of the American Psychological Association, Division 7: Developmental Psychology.

PART I. THEORY AND RESEARCH IN HUMAN DEVELOPMENTChapter 1: History, Theory, and Research Strategies

A Scientific, Applied, and Interdisciplinary Field

Basic Issues

The Lifespan Perspective: A Balanced Point of View

Scientific Beginnings

Mid-Twentieth-Century Theories

Recent Theoretical Perspectives

Comparing and Evaluating Theories

Studying Development

Ethics in Lifespan Research

PART II. FOUNDATIONS OF DEVELOPMENTChapter 2: Genetic and Environmental Foundations

Genetic Foundations

Reproductive Choices

Environmental Contexts for Development

Understanding the Relationship Between Heredity and Environment

Chapter 3: Prenatal Development, Birth, and the Newborn Baby

Prenatal Development

Prenatal Environmental Influences

Childbirth

Approaches to Childbirth

Medical Interventions

Preterm and Low-Birth-Weight Infants

Birth Complications, Parenting, and Resilience

The Newborn Baby’s Capacities

Adjusting to the New Family Unit

PART III. INFANCY AND TODDLERHOOD: THE FIRST TWO YEARSChapter 4: Physical Development in Infancy and Toddlerhood

Body Growth

Brain Development

Influences on Early Physical Growth

Learning Capacities

Motor Development

Perceptual Development

Chapter 5: Cognitive Development in Infancy and Toddlerhood

Piaget’s Cognitive-Developmental Theory

Information Processing

The Social Context of Early Cognitive Development

Individual Differences in Early Mental Development

Language Development

Chapter 6: Emotional and Social Development in Infancy and Toddlerhood

Erikson’s Theory of Infant and Toddler Personality

Emotional Development

Temperament and Development

Development of Attachment

Self-Development During the First Two Years

PART IV. EARLY CHILDHOOD: TWO TO SIX YEARSChapter 7: Physical and Cognitive Development in Early Childhood

Physical Development

A Changing Body and Brain

Influences on Physical Growth and Health

Motor Development

Cognitive Development

Piaget’s Theory: The Preoperational Stage

Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory

Information Processing

Individual Differences in Mental Development

Language Development

Chapter 8: Emotional and Social Development in Early Childhood

Erikson’s Theory: Initiative versus Guilt

Self-Understanding

Emotional Development

Peer Relations

Foundations of Morality

Gender Typing

Child Rearing and Emotional and Social Development

PART V. MIDDLE CHILDHOOD: SIX TO ELEVEN YEARSChapter 9: Physical and Cognitive Development in Middle Childhood

Physical Development

Body Growth

Common Health Problems

Motor Development and Play

Cognitive Development

Piaget’s Theory: The Concrete Operational Stage

Information Processing

Individual Differences in Mental Development

Language Development

Learning in School

Chapter 10: Emotional and Social Development in Middle Childhood

Erikson’s Theory: Industry versus Inferiority

Self-Understanding

Understanding Others: Perspective Taking

Moral Development

Peer Relations

Gender Typing

Family Influences

Some Common Problems of Development

PART VI. ADOLESCENCE: THE TRANSITION TO ADULTHOODChapter 11: Physical and Cognitive Development in Adolescence

Physical Development

Conceptions of Adolescence

Puberty: The Physical Transition to Adulthood

The Psychological Impact of Pubertal Events

Health Issues

Cognitive Development

Piaget’s Theory: The Formal Operational Stage

An Information-Processing View of Adolescent Cognitive Development

Consequences of Adolescent Cognitive Changes

Sex Differences in Mental Abilities

Learning in School

Chapter 12: Emotional and Social Development in Adolescence

Erikson’s Theory: Identity versus Role Confusion

Self-Understanding

Moral Development

Gender Typing

The Family

Peer Relations

Problems of Development

PART VII. EARLY ADULTHOODChapter 13: Physical and Cognitive Development in Early Adulthood

Physical Development

Biological Aging Is Under Way in Early Adulthood

Physical Changes

Health and Fitness

Cognitive Development

Changes in the Structure of Thought

Expertise and Creativity

The College Experience

Vocational Choice

Chapter 14: Emotional and Social Development in Early Adulthood

A Gradual Transition: Emerging Adulthood

Erikson’s Theory: Intimacy versus Isolation

Other Theories of Adult Psychosocial Development

Close Relationships

The Family Life Cycle

The Diversity of Adult Lifestyles

Career Development

PART VIII. MIDDLE ADULTHOODChapter 15: Physical and Cognitive Development in Middle Adulthood

Physical Development

Physical Changes

Health and Fitness

Adapting the Physical Challenges of Midlife

Cognitive Development

Changes in Mental Abilities

Information Processing

Vocational Life and Cognitive Development

Adult Learners: Becoming a College Student in Midlife

Chapter 16: Emotional and Social Development in Middle Adulthood

Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development in Midlife

Stability and Change in Self-Concept and Personality

Relationships at Midlife

Vocational Life

PART IX. LATE ADULTHOODChapter 17: Physical and Cognitive Development in Late Adulthood